


Our Patron Saints Have Scales

by Star_Going_Supernova



Category: Godzilla: King of The Monsters (2019)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Bonds, Fluff and Humor, I fudged the timeline a bit so Sam Brody and Andrew Russell could be friends, Light Angst, Magical Tattoos, Not Canon Compliant, Patron Titans, also much less Godzilla than initially intended :(, and there's no fighting among them, sue me, wherein the Titans never went to sleep or whatever and seeing them is normal
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-21
Updated: 2020-10-21
Packaged: 2021-03-09 04:40:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,178
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27128023
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Star_Going_Supernova/pseuds/Star_Going_Supernova
Summary: The Titans are and have been humanity’s constant companions from the very beginning. Their presence is a gift. You see, each and every human is born with a connection to one, their Patron, that comes alive between their ninth and tenth birthdays.Or at least,almosteveryone.
Relationships: Andrew Russell & Madison Russell, Godzilla (Legendary | MonsterVerse) & Madison Russell
Comments: 43
Kudos: 104





	Our Patron Saints Have Scales

**Author's Note:**

> Calling her MUTO in this story feels weird, because context, but that’s what I got. I decided to use Muto instead of all caps so it looks more like a name than an acronym. 
> 
> All my Godzilla fic is self-indulgent in some way, but this might top the charts. ~~no this wasn’t inspired by percy jackson and the way demigods share characteristics or what-have-you with their godly parent what are you talking about hahaha~~ Write what you want to read, y'know?
> 
> Hope y'all enjoy!

_Fact: everyone had a Patron Titan._ Kids learned which was theirs before they reached double-digits. There’d be some mark, some sign—sometimes as simple as a streak of color or spot of skin different from human flesh. Much more uncommon were changes in one of their eyes. A lucky few found slightly more intricate tattoos curling around their wrists or necks or centered above their hearts.

After the mark, the Titan’s Signature, came the dreams. Little flashes of where their Patron was in the world, little sensations of feeling. Some people’s diets changed, some suddenly ached to live in a wildly different climate, some made absent thoughtful noises similar to their Titan’s vocalizations.

It was exciting to talk about, something to tell your equally young friends when it first happened. _I got my Signature,_ or, _I had my first dream!_ You’d be the envy of the classroom for those who hadn’t found their Patron yet, and a new member of the ranks who had.

There’d been loads of studies over the years, going back almost long enough ago to cause linguists and historians trouble in deciphering such ancient documents. What caused the bond to form, why did it always happen at such a young age, what determined which Patron, what determined the _when?_

They had their guesses about that last question. The default seemed to be between the child’s ninth and tenth birthday, if the bond didn’t have cause to form sooner. Emotional state seemed to be a factor in earlier reveals. Being in legitimate physical danger almost always jumpstarted it.

Maddie could rattle off those statistics as if they were engraved in her brain. She’d spent more than her fair share of time paging through academic papers and articles and studies. The easiest stat of all to remember was the number of kids _ever_ to not have a Patron Titan. Zero, because _everyone_ had one.

Except—

_Fact: Madison Russell did not have a Patron Titan._

Which meant one of those facts was a lie, and her unmarked skin was proof enough. When she’d passed her tenth birthday, she had tried not to panic. Maybe she was just a late bloomer. Maybe she just couldn’t find her Titan’s Signature. Maybe it was really small or hard to see.

But then she turned eleven and twelve and thirteen, and time marched on and nothing ever happened. No Signature, no dreams, no funny little side effects.

Her brother had a Patron. He and his best friend down the street even had the same Titan. Their marks _matched_. Both Andrew and Sam had glowy red lines like circuits bracketing their eyes, representative of Muto. People thought it was _adorable_ even though they were in college. They got asked if they were _twins_.

Maddie had secretly spent too long hoping to get red lines just like theirs.

Her dad had a Patron. There was a patch of skin right where his neck met his right shoulder that was all gray and hard and reminiscent of rocks. Methuselah. He’d spent one of his college-age spring breaks in Europe with a bunch of other people who could claim Methuselah as their Patron. Her dad had actually _touched_ his Titan.

Land-dwelling Titans were the most common Patrons. Ocean-dwellers were uncommon but not rare. In the average person’s lifetime, they would only meet a few people bound to winged-Titans. Mothra was the rarest of those to have bonded, being Queen, which made it pretty funny that the Chen family—close friends with the Russells—seemed only capable of producing girls with Mothra as their Patron.

Her mom had a Patron, though Maddie didn’t envy her. Ghidorah, though winged and unique for his three heads, was temperamental at best and a thrower of tantrums at worst. Her mom didn’t seem to mind, even though her main side effect was receiving little electric shocks with alarming frequency. The gold scales wrapped around her wrist were really pretty, though.

And Maddie was sick of thinking about her family’s Patrons, but she was officially fifteen years old as of yesterday and still lacking a Signature.

She stared listlessly out the car window as her parents bickered about what time they were supposed to meet Andrew and Sam at a restaurant near their college.

Maybe there were other kids like her, she thought as she traced the dips of the power lines with her eyes. Kids who didn’t get a Patron but were too ashamed and frustrated and feeling like there was something wrong, something _broken,_ about them to tell anyone.

She’d made up a story about Behemoth being her Patron—since he was a common enough one to keep her from getting any attention—but the Signature being in too awkward of a place to show anyone. It’d worked so far.

Finally groaning loudly, Maddie flopped her head away from the window and interrupted her parents. “You’re both wrong, he asked us to be there at four-thirty so we could have time to check in at the hotel before we go. And because an early dinner means more time at the beach before it gets stupid crowded for the bonfires and fireworks.”

Blessed silence as they both processed that. Situated in the driver’s seat, her mom leaned up to smile at her in the rearview mirror. “Thanks, Maddie.”

Her dad twisted around to face her, braced against the center console. “You excited to see your brother?”

“Yeah, ’cause it’s been _sooo_ long,” she said, grinning. A long weekend was excuse enough for the two boys to make the drive home, which they’d done just two weeks ago.

Her dad reached back to swat her knee. “Fine then, are you excited for tonight?”

Like clockwork, Godzilla himself, King of the Titans and the only one who no one ever bonded with, made appearances along the coastline of various areas around the world. There were big celebrations whenever and wherever it happened.

“I guess,” Maddie said, shrugging. “It’ll be cool to see him in person, but it’s—I dunno, kinda like whale watching? You just stand there and shout really excitedly until he goes back underwater.”

Tsking, her mom shook her head. “It’s an opportunity that a lot of people don’t get the chance to have. At least try to enjoy it.”

“I get it,” her dad said, wrinkling his nose at her. “Godzilla’s pretty untouchable, right? I bet you’d rather met your Patron.”

And there she went, thinking about it again. Still, determined not to show what she was actually feeling, Maddie mustered a smile up and nodded. “That’d be way cooler. No offense to Godzilla.”

Her parents chuckled and went back to talking about boring adult things, leaving Maddie to try and keep from falling into despondency.

It wasn’t like she was even missing much, she tried to tell herself. Other than the dreams, there wasn’t anything so special about having a Patron. Except for, y’know, being able to channel them or whatever when you were in danger.

She’d never seen it done in person, but news channels always spent a lot of time whenever there were pictures or video of someone managing to bring forth their Titan’s strength or speed or durability or whatever trait it was.

That’d be pretty awesome, if it weren’t for the prerequisite of being in serious trouble. It was supposed to be instinctual and uncontrollable so why would she even want that in the first place? She wasn’t missing out. Honest. No jealousy here.

Maddie sighed quietly and propped her chin in her hand. Being Patron-less sucked.

• • • 

No matter how cheeky she’d been to her dad, it was great to see Andrew again. It was so quiet back home without him.

While Sam was busy regaling their parents with some story, Andrew leaned closer to her and whispered, “Still nothing?”

He was the only person who knew. She’d never been good at keeping secrets from him, and when she’d turned eleven, she’d gotten so upset about the continued absence of a Signature that she had ended up telling him in between shuddering gulps for air while she tried to stop crying.

Maddie shook her head. “Nothing. I think… I don’t think I’m ever gonna get one, Andrew. It’s been five years.”

He looked so sad for her. She grabbed his hand beneath the table and squeezed lightly. “You don’t need to worry about me,” she tried to tell him. “It’s not like I know what I’m missing. Can’t miss what you’ve never had, right?”

Andrew shook his head. “Maybe not _miss_ it, but you can long for it. Dream about it—in the hopeful way, I mean, not the, not like with—”

She squeezed his hand again. “I know what you mean,” she whispered. He was always reluctant to bring up Patrons with her, as if she didn’t hear about Titans almost daily. “But I’m serious. So what if I never get one?”

Her brother, bless him, looked ready to fiercely argue that on her behalf, but their whispers had finally caught the others’ attention, and they were drawn back into table-wide conversation.

Turning his hand beneath hers, Andrew gave her a little grasp in return before letting go.

• • •

Swimming in the ocean was always fun, and jumping in the waves was an excellent distraction from all things Titan. She, Andrew, and Sam played Marco Polo—even managing to coax her dad into the water to join them—and had competitions to see who could hold their breath longest.

The boys buried her in the sand near the water’s edge, building up and carving out an impressive two-finned mermaid tail over her lower half.

The specially-made bonfire pits scattered across the beach began to light up as the sun set. Two little barges set near the drop-off on either side of the expansive beach prepared their fireworks. Towels and blankets were arranged in surprisingly neat rows, keeping pathways to walk in between clear.

Maddie eventually wandered off, tired of the crowd. It was still pleasantly warm out, so she didn’t bother with much more than an overly large t-shirt tugged over her swimsuit. She walked ankle deep in the water to keep from stepping on anyone’s stuff.

There was a ratty wooden fence at the far end of the beach, but it didn’t really go out into the ocean, making it easy to step around. The land swept up in a little grassy hill beyond the boundary, but it was the large rock formations jutting out of the water just past a mini-peninsula in the coast that drew her in.

Humming an old song dedicated to Mothra that Ilene Chen had taught her, she hopped across the smaller rocks until she reached the boulders.

Climbing around and laughing to herself as she tried to keep from falling into the water below, Maddie almost didn’t notice how dark it was getting until she heard the first firework pop off. She settled down at the top of the tallest rock formation, knees tucked to her chest, to watch. It was a good view, and the crowd’s clamor wasn’t quite as annoying as if she’d been in the middle of it all.

If it weren’t for the way the cheering got louder and more constant, she would’ve entirely missed the jagged spines slowly poking out of the water a little ways out from the beach. The more they were revealed, the brighter the blue glow coming from them became.

It was pretty awesome, Maddie couldn’t deny that, and she was unable to keep from grinning against her knees. With the fireworks above them, reflecting colored light against the dark water around Godzilla’s fins, it felt a little bit like magic, or a dream.

Maddie wasn’t entirely sure what exactly was supposed to happen when Godzilla passed by like this, so she didn’t find it weird when he raised his head from the water and glanced towards the beach, coming to a full stop. She could hear the increased chatter and shouting, and she had no trouble imagining some people jumping up and down, waving in excitement.

The last of the fireworks fizzled out. Godzilla’s eyes, the same intense blue as his spines, were suddenly a lot easier to see without the flashing lights. He continued to stare in the beach’s direction, his head turning this way and that.

Maddie leaned forward on her perch, despite knowing the hilly little outcropping completely blocked any view she might’ve had. Whatever had caught Godzilla’s attention was beyond her sight. Huffing a sigh, her curiosity having gotten the better of her patience, Maddie shifted around while considering whether it’d be worth it to try climbing down in the dark. Nighttime was cooler, but the ocean hadn’t had that much time to lose its warmth.

The moment she fully stood up, though, Godzilla’s head swung in her direction. She froze, staring back at him. And then he ducked down into the water to swim towards her.

Mouth hanging open a little, Maddie glanced back at the shore, which was definitely farther than she’d thought it was. Should she try and get away? Was she not supposed to be out on the rocks? There wasn’t time to really consider escape, much less whether she’d done something wrong, because Godzilla was a fast swimmer and in what felt like only a few panicky heartbeats, he was rising up in front of her.

And since the rock formation Maddie was standing on was deep enough not to cause him trouble in reaching her, Godzilla’s head was literally _right_ there, almost close enough to touch.

Maddie forced herself to close her mouth. Should she say something? Do something? She’d never heard of anything like this happening before, and it wasn’t like they taught _how to interact with the King of Titans_ in school.

He huffed at her, sending a gust of warm air through her hair. His eyes were bright and piercing, but the way he was looking at her wasn’t threatening. There was no growling or snarling, no baring of teeth.

“Uh… hi?” she ventured. She absently moved her foot, only to lose her balance as it slipped on the rock. Maddie yelped as she nearly fell forward into the water, only for Godzilla to block the way, catching her on his snout instead. He rumbled deeply, almost like he was chuckling.

Pushing herself up on her hands, she stared with wide-eyed surprise as he tilted his head, guiding her bare feet back onto the rock formation. She stepped back, being extra careful.

“Thank you,” she said, smiling a little. “I—”

She didn’t get to finish her sentence as a sudden wave of dizziness had her sitting down to avoid keeling over.

An odd numbness spread through Maddie’s body from her feet, up her legs, over her back, around her neck, and across her face. The yelling from the beach and the crashing of waves suddenly sounded both very loud and very muffled. Godzilla’s eyes were so bright, and so close. Her vision went spotty, and with a choked little sound of distress, she lost consciousness.

• • •

“Did you know? Did _anyone_ know?” someone was demanding over her. Their voice would’ve made her flinch, but she felt so _heavy_ that she couldn’t move at all. Even her eyes refused to open.

“Dad,” someone else said. “Does it really matter?”

“Does it—does it matter! No one’s ever _not_ bonded with a Titan before, Andrew! Don’t you think that’s something we should’ve known about? And now _this_ has happened…” The sound of footsteps accompanied the frustrated words. Pacing. The speaker was pacing.

“Andrew,” a third voice started hesitantly, “did you know? Did Maddie tell you that she never received a bond with a Patron, or a Signature?”

There was a blessed moment of silence. There must’ve been some wordless response to the question, a nod or shake of the head, or perhaps a guilty look, because the first speaker released a mildly outraged sound.

“Can you blame her for not wanting to talk about it? If this is how you would’ve reacted, then I’m _glad_ she never told you! Imagine how she must’ve felt every single time someone went on and on about how _cool_ it was that they’d discovered their Patron.”

“Maybe people would’ve stopped doing that if they’d known!”

“You know that’s not true, Mark. With the importance we—everyone—puts on Patrons, she would never have been left alone. Not by bullies who wanted to rub it in that she didn’t have a Patron, and not by anyone with an interest in how the bonds work.”   
  
“Exactly. And besides, Dad, it was her decision anyway. She wasn’t obligated to tell anyone about it.”

Maddie struggled to get some part of her body to respond to her commands as the conversation briefly stalled. Her family—it couldn’t be anyone else—was talking about her, and she hated not being able to contribute.

At long last, and with great effort, she got her fingers to flex. There was a rustle of clothing directly to her left. It sounded like someone who’d been sitting down beside her had just stood up. A hand lightly gripped her own. “Maddie? Are you awake, sweetheart?” her mom asked.

Her eyelids still weren’t cooperating, and her tongue felt all but glued in place. She managed a weak grunt of acknowledgement.

Three nearly identical sighs of relief rang out in the room. She was pretty sure one came from either side of her, with the third being further forward. Her dad, probably, given the pacing she’d heard.

“Are you okay? Does anything hurt?” Andrew asked on her right. “You’ve been unconscious for a few hours.”

A few _hours?_ What had even happened? She remembered the beach, remembered Godzilla, but—she hadn’t fallen or anything. She hadn’t hit her head, so how…?

Maddie tried to answer in the negative, but only really succeeded in making a soft “mm” sound in the back of her throat. She flexed her fingers again, which was a little easier to accomplish this time.

Her mom spoke before she could get frustrated with herself. “How about this, we ask you a yes or no question, and you squeeze my hand for yes, and Andrew’s for no.”

Her brother’s hand slipped into her right one, and she gave it an experimental twitch.

“She can move this hand too,” he told their mom.

“All right. Maddie, are in you any pain?”

She twitched her right fingers. “No,” Andrew translated.

“That’s good, that’s wonderful, sweetheart. How about, can you open your eyes?”

Another no.

“Can you move anything else?” Andrew asked. Third time’s the charm.

“Do you remember what happened?” her dad asked. It was the first thing he’d said since she’d shown she was awake.

Maddie didn’t move either hand.

“I didn’t feel anything,” Andrew said.

“Me neither.”

“Do you only remember some of it?”

She squeezed her mom’s hand. It was getting easier each time, and with a bit of concentration, she was able to wiggle her left foot.

Andrew’s smile was audible. “Looks like your body just needs a little time to finish waking up.”

Which was great. Honest, it was. But _why_ was her body temporarily paralyzed to begin with? This time, the noise she made sounded at least a little questioning.

“You had a seizure,” her dad said. His voice came closer as he continued, “Sort of, anyway. You had something that was like a seizure. They said you might feel a little funny at first, but that there’s no lasting damage.”

A seizure wasn’t even remotely close to anything she would have guessed. She did her best to relate her shock.

“The doctors said it was because you didn’t get a Patron when you were supposed to,” her dad continued.

“Dad,” Andrew said warningly.

“I’m not gonna get started, bud. I promise.” And then, to her, “Some of it’s guesswork, kiddo. This isn’t something they have experience with. But they’re pretty sure that, since your bond developed so late, your body…”

“Spazzed out,” Andrew helpfully filled in.

But… she didn’t _have_ a Patron Titan.

Her frustration and confusion finally gave her the power to convince her eyelids to painstakingly drag themselves open. The ceiling was blurry, and so was Andrew’s face when he leaned over her. Maddie wished she could rub her eyes, but precision movement was still out of the question.

“I don’t _have_ a Patron,” she tried to say. It sounded more like an incomprehensible jumble of grunts.

Miracle of all miracles, Andrew seemed to get it. Maybe her face was conveying her disgruntled bewilderment. He glanced at their silent parents and offered her a grimace of a smile. “Well, actually, you, uh. You do now.”

She stared up at him, entirely unamused.

“Surprise?” he added.

• • •

It took another half hour for Maddie’s body to get itself together and work the way it was supposed to. A few nurses and doctors came and went periodically, offering her water once she was able to sit up a little, and testing her range of motion as feeling returned. They all looked at her the same way, and it took her the full thirty minutes for her to put a name to the weird expressions they wore.

It was _awe_. What the _hell_ had happened to her to make them react like that?

Maddie tried to get more information from her parents, but the entire time she was laying there, they had gently refused to say anything else on the subject until she was feeling better. Her mom got up at some point to go meet Aunt Viv and Doc, who, _for some reason,_ had seen fit to come out all this way when they heard the news.

At long last, when it was just her, her dad, and Andrew, she finally felt like she could stand up without face-planting.

“Okay,” she said, shooting up. “I’m getting out of this bed and I’ll punch anyone who tries to stop me.”

She shoved back the sheet before either of them could say a word, and immediately stopped dead at the sight of her hands. There were weird markings on the backs of them, a random pattern of squiggly lines and dotted designs and jagged streaks.

“What,” she said. She flipped her hands over. Her palms were bare, but the markings circled around her knuckles like odd rings. “Sorry, _what?_ ”

“Told you you bonded,” Andrew mumbled.

“This isn’t what a Signature looks like!” she cried. She pulled her legs out from beneath the covers, and thanks to the hospital gown, didn’t have to struggle to see that the markings covered her legs and feet in the same way as her hands. The patterns were beautiful, she could admit that, but they were also blue and _glowing_ and definitely hadn’t been there the last time she’d looked down at herself.

Maddie stumbled to her feet, almost too quickly. Andrew reached out to steady her as she twisted to see her calves, which bore designs that sort of resembled the sun, if the sun was super stylized and radiating rays like in kids’ drawings.

“Is it everywhere?” she asked.

“Kinda, yeah,” Andrew said. “Maddie—”

“How did this happen, though? I’ve never heard of a Signature doing this! Tattoo Signatures are never bigger than, like, an arm or something!”

“Signatures depend on the Titan,” her dad spoke up. He stood and circled around the bed towards them, pulling out his phone as he went. “And the strength of the bond,” he continued. “Ilene and Ling each have a full sleeve tattoo Signature because their bonds with Mothra are strong.”

A full sleeve? Then what did an entire body artwork like this mean?

“This,” he said, offering his phone to her, “is your back.”

It took a long moment to register that the image on the screen really actually was of Maddie’s back, and not some incredibly intricate tattoo on someone else.

Though it was in the same style as on the rest of her, the tattoo covering her back from the nape of her neck to below the top of her pants was no nonsense pattern. It was made of thick, bold lines and deliberate speckles. Thinner squiggles surrounded it, giving off the impression of waves. Dotted swirls decorated the tops of her shoulders.

It was Godzilla.

Viewed from above, so he was in a swimming position with the tip of his snout resting on the back of her neck, he completely covered the expanse of her back. His spines were outlined in black and white, the only place where the markings didn’t seem to be atomic-breath blue, giving them the appearance of being lit. His hind legs were visible on either side of his body, near her hips, and the end of his tail vanished beneath her pants.

Entranced by the picture, Maddie slowly said, “That’s… on my back. I—sorry, but—that’s seriously on my back?”

“Yep.”

“The nurses said his tail is curled around your left thigh,” Andrew added.

Slowly lowering the phone, she stared off into space. “But…”

But what? It wasn’t possible? She couldn’t bond? Signatures couldn’t look like this? The connections between Titans and humans had always involved guesswork, and _clearly,_ something had happened.

“Why now?” she finally asked, sitting down on the bed. “It’s been five years. I don’t—I don’t understand.”

Her dad sighed and sat beside her, hugging her to himself with one arm. “I don’t know the answer to that, kiddo. I wish I did, but all we can do is guess.”

“It was the first time you’d ever seen him in person,” Andrew said. “Maybe that had something to do with it?”

“Why would he be different from any other Titan, though?” she asked. Remembering the moments before she’d blacked out, she said, “It didn’t happen when I saw him, anyway. It only happened after I touched him.”

Something else clicked in her head. “Wait, is this what Aunt Viv and Doc are here for?” They were both avid studiers of all things Titan, which included the bonds.

Andrew exchanged a look with their dad. It spoke _volumes_.

“I’m not letting anyone poke at me,” Maddie announced loudly. “Not even family.”

“They’re just curious is all—” her dad started.

“I’m not a science experiment!” Spotting a neatly folded pile of clothes on a chair off to the side, she practically lunged for the bundle, desperate to cover up as much as she could before any real staring could happen. As much as she didn’t like the idea of someone undressing and dressing her while she was unconscious, she was grateful that her swimsuit bottoms had been exchanged for underwear. It meant she could wiggle right into her pants.

The bottoms fell just past her knees, which wasn’t long enough to cover up all the blue now decorating her legs, but Maddie would take what she could get. She slipped her flip-flips on and glared her family into turning around.

In short order, she was tugging a light sweater on over her t-shirt. “Much better,” she breathed in relief. “Even if it’s not all hidden, it’s a lot less obvious now, right?”

Andrew pressed his lips together. His shoulders shook lightly, like he was trying not to laugh. Her sibling senses were tingling; he was definitely trying not to laugh _at her_.

Maddie narrowed her eyes. “What?”

Her dad shook his head and looked away, his lips twitching into a traitorous smile.

“Well,” Andrew said, a tiny bit strained. “We told you the marks were practically everywhere, right?”

“Yeah…”

He gestured at her. “You haven’t looked in a mirror yet, Maddie.”

“No. _No._ ” She darted to the little bathroom attached to the room and banged through the half-closed door. “You’re kidding, you—”

She didn’t even need to turn the lights on to see where the marks were, because they were _glowing_. Delicate dots and squiggles swept under her eyes, sharp points like claw marks rose up from under her chin to swipe across her cheeks, and a wide ‘v’ shape made of tiny, intricate designs crossed her forehead, perfectly centered, with the ends disappearing into her hair.

It was admittedly all pretty cool looking. However, the fact that she had neither asked for her face to be all marked up or had any way to remove it, even temporarily, detracted significantly from the coolness.

Even the most unusual Signatures weren’t this crazy. In fact, even the most unusual Signatures were still recognizable as Signatures. This? No one would recognize this.

“Guess I can’t go to school anymore,” she finally said. “Oh well.”

“ _Maddie_ ,” she heard her dad sigh exasperatedly.

She poked her head back into the hospital room. “Would _you_ be willing to go to school if _your_ face was covered in glowing tattoos?”

The expression he wore—that lovely _just-sucked-a-lemon_ expression—said _hell no_. Whether he’d have lied straight to her face—her _glowing face_ —she’d never find out, as before he could respond, the door to the hallway opened.

Her mom walked in, immediately followed by Aunt Viv, Doc, and Sam. People started talking right away—Doc seemed about ready to burst with his theories and whatnot—and among the greetings and explanations and hypotheses, Sam sidled over to her with a sympathetic smile.

“Probably not how you expected finding your Patron to go, huh?” he asked.

The realization that what should’ve been a happy moment had been nothing but confusing and freaky tore through her. She clenched her jaw against the sudden prickle of tears in her eyes and shook her head.

Sam’s Signature glinted down at her, the circuit-like red lines an odd opposite to her organic swirling blue. He gently pulled her into his chest. “I love your family, Mads, but I think they’re being real doofuses right now, if no one’s even offered you a hug.” 

“The hell am I supposed to do, Sam?” she asked, sure that he could hear her even when her voice was muffled against his shirt.

“We’ll figure it out.”

_We,_ not _you_. Maddie took a deep, shuddery breath. She wasn’t alone—she had to remember that. They’d get through this.

On the other side of the room, her dad and Doc seemed to be arguing, with Andrew watching on in amusement, while Aunt Viv and her mom had their heads bent together, taking turns talking a mile a minute. They’d all snap out of it soon, probably. As chaotic as it all was, Maddie was grateful they weren’t swarming her. Yet.

Sam cleared his throat. “There’s, uh, something I think you should know, though.”

Maddie leaned back. “What?”

He glanced at the Russells and Co, as if making sure no one was listening to them. “It’s Godzilla, Maddie. He hasn’t let the bay yet. He’s just swimming back and forth, like… like he’s waiting.”

“Waiting,” she repeated.

She didn’t ask what— _who_ —the King of Titans might’ve been waiting for. The enormous tattoo on her back was answer enough.

**Author's Note:**

> If you’ve read _Taking the Plunge,_ you probably saw a few similarities, but it was too good an opportunity to pass up. 
> 
> I’d love to continue this, but it’s debatable whether I will. Kinda lacking ideas (that i haven’t already done in other stories) about where to go from here. Thoughts?
> 
> • [my tumblr](https://star-going-supernova.tumblr.com) •
> 
> p.s. with this story, i've officially posted 500,000 words on ao3!!!


End file.
